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Hulu's Buffy the Vampire Slayer update is dead, but its writers are rising again for Scream 8

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale scribes Lilla and Nora Zuckerman are going from ghost chases to ghost faces as the new writers of Paramount's Scream 8, now in development

News by Grant DeArmitt, Staff Writer

Published on Wed Apr 01 2026

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When God closes a coffin, He opens a... slasher house?

OK, my metaphor about there being more opportunities in the horror entertainment biz needs some work - maybe a better way to say it is just by telling you that, hot off a creepy cancellation, two scary screenwriters are onto another petrifying possibility. Specifically, those writers are sisters Lilla and Nora Zuckerman, the pair who penned Hulu's Buffy the Vampire Slayer sequel series, New Sunnydale. As I'm sure we don't have to tell you, reader, Hulu has staked their hotly-anticipated return to Sunnydale, but the Zuckerman sisters have already found their next calling:

As the writers of Scream 8.

The story comes from Deadline, who reported on the development of an 8th Scream film after the 7th entry set a record box office intake for the franchise ($200M worldwide, as of the article's publication). Already a horror staple, it only makes sense that Spyglass would keep putting new killers in the Ghostface mask, especially after OG star Neve Campbell and OG scribe Kevin Williamson returned to the franchise. That said, Deadline did not confirm the involvement of either in the upcoming, in-development film.

Something to note here - Scream 8 won't be the first time that the Zuckerman sisters have tackled murder mysteries under the Paramount banner. Lilla was the showrunner of Peacock's Poker Face, while Nora served as both executive producer for the Rian Johnson-created series and wrote one of the episodes' scripts. Kinda makes your wonder whether the New Sunnydale plot had a mystery of its own at the heart, no?

Well, maybe if Scream 8 does well enough, Hulu will reconsider bringing up the Zuckerman's pilot again. After all, what's a slasher but a slayer... on the other team?

If the Zuckermans are free to write better metaphors, someone please give them my contact info.

In the immortal words of Danny Elfman, "Life's no fun without a good scare." Join Popverse's freaky forays into frightful filmology with:

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Grant DeArmitt: Grant DeArmitt (he/him) likes horror, comics, and the unholy union of the two. In the past, and despite their better judgment, he has written for Nightmare on Film Street and Newsarama. He lives in Brooklyn with his partner, Kingsley, and corgi, Legs.